Hit With An Unexpectedly High Medical Bill, Here's How A Savvy Patient Fought Back

Copayments and coinsurance exist, in theory, so patients have"skin in the game." They have to pay a clearly defined portion of the cost of their care, according to their policy, so they will shop around and use medical care judiciously .

Qiu called the hospital to ask why she was being billed a second time, despite the lack of complications during the surgery. She remembers the back-and-forth over the remaining bill was exhausting, especially because it happened over the holidays. But Qiu refused, though she could afford to pay. She's undaunted by the risk the unpaid bill poses to her credit score, preferring instead to fight the hospital on behalf of other patients who may not have the time or luxury to persist.

They apologized for giving the mistaken impression that Qiu was getting a discount. Staff members are not authorized to offer discounts when providing estimates, said Derryl Acosta, a spokesman for Palomar Health. Because Palomar Health was able to see in its phone records that a staffer had confirmed the erroneous 20% coinsurance amount to Qiu, the health system will change her bill to reflect what she was promised. Qiu will get a statement in the mail saying she has a zero balance, Acosta said.Multiple medical billing advocates who reviewed Qiu's case praised her for her tenacity in calling the hospital financial department twice before the procedure.

The simple fact that a hospital staffer misinformed a patient isn't a legal reason to force a hospital to lower a bill, Brousse said.

In Canada we don't get hospital bills. Americans are dumb AF.

Former Healthcare person, first husband had an experimental bone marrow transplant in 1997, complications over 18 mo. & 2 million+ dollars later, with a million dollar cap, the oncology team denied a hospice referral to us, and things got ugly, and he died anyway. Nothing New.

But what about TonyBobulinski ? Or the LaptopFromHell ?

$22k for a simple procedure that should have been about $5500. Only in America.

This facility should have sent out an preauthorization to her insurance company to at least get an estimate, and even then it’s still an estimate. Insurance payment is NOT a guarantee of payment.

Signs of a completely broken healthcare system....

Let's pause to particularly appreciate the crassness of Palomar Health billing $22,219.64 for a 30 minute polyp removal. Followed by the patient having to spend hours and hours fighting collections. Then tell me again about how bad other countries with universal care have it.

What a sick twisted industry at every turn. We shouldn’t have to go to bat at every junction of our journey to get/stay well. And the price tag far outweighs the quality of care and customer service. I can’t wait for Medicare for all.

Never give up because that's what they want. By all means, keep records, document everything. I personally record every conversation and make a copy of every chat.

“To avoid such situations, experts advised, patients should check in with their insurer about the discounts offered, as hospital staffers may be poorly trained or ill informed.” How about improving staff training? I realize that doing so will not fix everything, but it will help

“They have to pay a clearly defined portion of the cost of their care, according to their policy, so they will shop around and use medical care judiciously” Ahh, the magical “Free Market”. Can I afford my life saving treatment, or should I be “judicious”?

Healthcare for profit is the scourge of America.

How about the Tucker interview 2nite? MIND BLOWING!!!!

Cover Tony bobulinski. Do the work of a journalist. Give us the facts. Tell us why he is wrong or lying.

Hospital billing is disorganized bs. Fight it!

Heard this on MorningEdition and the only thing I could think was, Which other countries could this happen? I honestly do not know. Anyone?

Maybe that's something that shouldn't have happened in the first place?

Oh shit! I knew I wasnt savvy enough! Fuck!

we need single payer

It's sick that we have to game a system that's supposed to be there to keep us healthy and alive.

Real news.

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